In case the pain gets worse after they leave the medical facility, maybe.

I've had oral surgeries where I was under anesthesia for the procedure. My initial pain level afterward is low. The first time I had it done, I didn't take any meds, and then the pain built up over the next several hours, and was pretty bad for a day or two.

Since then, I know I need to take a couple of timed doses of the pain meds to stay ahead of the pain. But I usually only need 2-3 doses.

We undertook this work – spreading our staff throughout courtrooms, jails, treatment facilities, finding addicts on the streets and talking to families who have lost love ones – to put the epidemic in proportion. It is massive. It has a direct or indirect impact on every one of us. It doesn’t discriminate by race, gender, age or economic background. Its insidious spread reaches every neighborhood, every township, every city, regardless of demographics. And it is stressing our health-care systems, hospitals and treatment capacity.

This seems to be one of the case where the best answer is to not even start. Not even once, as the addiction is so strong.